Sunday, March 25, 2012

if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans. We thought our family was complete, but God has made it very clear to us that it is not. We are very excited to share that we are adopting again!! If someone would have told me years ago that we would have 4 kids, I would have told them they were crazy. The truth is, we are thrilled and can't get all of the paperwork and home study visits done quickly enough.
We feel led to adopt a little boy from China. Some people have asked us, "Why a boy?" What a lot of people don't realize is that there are a lot of little boys with minor special needs who need homes. Many people think that only girls are adopted from China, but boys can also be adopted.
We have completed all of the applications for both the home study agency and adoption agencies. We have also started gathering our documents for our dossier.
We are now trying to come up with a new name for our blog and are taking suggestions. :-) The kids have also started the great debate on a name for their little brother. The kids are all excited and cannot wait to bring their new brother home.
Next steps is to complete our home study and to then complete our dossier. This can take a few more months because certain things have to be checked and approved by the government. We are hopeful that we will be matched once our dossier makes it to China. We appreciate all of your prayers and support as we journey back to China!!

The Fam

Welcome

Welcome to our blog. We are the Garland family. Michael, Heather, Aidan (12), Keenan (9), Isabella (8) and Eli (3). We brought Isabella home in August of 2009, and Eli home in February 2013. We hope you enjoy our journey as a family of 6!

Aidan

Keenan

Bella

Eli

Our four blessings

Timeline

February 15: Apply to CCAI;
February 16: Apply to FAC (homestudy agency);
May 24: Received Final Homestudy;
May 25: Sent I800A application to USCIS;
July 11: USCIS Approval;
July 20: DTC;
July 24: LID;
August 9: LOI submitted to China, Eli's file locked!!;
August 17: Pre-approval from China;
September 19: Out of Translation;
November 1: LOA;
November 21: USCIS Provisional 800 Approval;
December 18: Article 5 issued;
January 9: Travel Approval!;
January 21: Eli in our arms forever!!